


Much Abides

by Jmas



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-07-29
Updated: 2002-07-29
Packaged: 2018-10-07 11:04:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10359018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jmas/pseuds/Jmas
Summary: Spoilers: Meridian, fix of S6 canon, Daniel-inclusiveA long time ago in a galaxy not so very far away...





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Yuma, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [Stargatefan.com](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Stargatefan.com). To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [StargateFan Archive Collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/StargateFan_Archive_Collection).

Much Abides

##  Much Abides

##### Written by Jmas   
Comments? Write to us at [jmtm1@eastky.net](mailto:jmtm1@eastky.net)

  * Spoilers: Meridian, fix of S6 canon, Daniel-inclusive 
  * A long time ago in a galaxy not so very far away… 
  * Author's note: This is not a canon treatment of the ep. As promised no fic I write will ever exclude Daniel and his vital place in the Stargate SG1 lexicon. This is a response to my own challenge on SG1HC to write the perfect ending to the Stargate saga. Unapologetic sap, hopefully not descending into sop. If that isn’t your cup of tea, then please don’t read this. 
  * Warnings: This is my vision, I don’t expect it to be shared. In my world, in my heart, Daniel does and will always belong with SG1. While I’m not fond of Jonas and they way they’ve chosen to present him, this isn’t necessarily the future I’d wish for him. This story, and possibly others like it, are the closest I will ever come to using him in a story. 
  * PG-13 [AU] [D] 



* * *

__

Though much is taken, much abides, 

And though we are not now that strength,

Which in old days moved heaven and earth,

That which we are, we are..

~Alfred, Lord Tennyson

‘Some men are born to greatness.’ Jack had read that once. He couldn’t remember it all, but he did remember the rest of it implied the really great ones didn’t have a choice in the matter, they just were. Great, that was.

Hell, he’d always though Daniel was pretty great, sometimes a great pain in the ass, but he’d also realized Daniel was the that ‘cut above’ kind of guy who would be remembered as great with a capital G - like Ghandi or Einstein or any of those or guys with funny hair and big ideas. Jack always knew Daniel would do big things.

If he managed to live long enough. 

For the better part of fifteen years, Jack had put a lot of time, planning and personal energy into seeing that Daniel was standing here today. In a very real way, this payoff was for the both of them.

It had been close way too many times to count, especially in the early days. But the one time he’d failed had been a doozy. Daniel really had died - or ascended, or whatever the hell he’d done. The loss had very nearly been the end of SG1.

Oh, Jonas had tried - too hard. Jack honestly believed the man’s own guilt had made things worse; he just had to be better, stronger, faster, smarter - and in the end that drive had killed him. Lacking the subtleties of Daniel’s hard earned and intuitive knowledge, Jonas had made a fatal error that had come close to killing them all. Without Daniel’s instincts, experience, and the vital historical context, Jonas had misread one word too many and led them into one of Anubis’ traps. Jonas had been the first to die in a foolhardy move of self-sacrifice. Over the years Jack had come to believe that perhaps Jonas had found a final redemption in his own eyes for his part in Daniel’s death. Jack regretted more than he could say that he agreed. There hadn’t been time to forgive, or forget. Jack wasn’t sure there ever would have been enough time.

They’d come close to dying from Anubis’ torture - too damn close - and they would have if it hadn’t been for Daniel….

__

~*~

Jack remembered shimmering light coalescing in the dark chamber, remembered knowing right away just what - and who - it was…

Jaffa had fallen all around them, voices cut off mid-scream and the smell of charred flesh had been thick in the room as they lay helpless in their chains, too injured to do more that watch their own private avenging angel smite their torturers with extreme celestial prejudice. Anubis had been the last to die - crispy fried and spouting typical goa’uld rhetoric to his last breath.

And then it had been over. 

In the silent aftermath they’d watched Daniel solidify before them, using the last of his cosmic energy to snap their chains before something shifted and they’d known he was fully human again. They’d drunk in the sight of his warm, breathing form. It hadn’t taken the long to realize Daniel had weakened himself severely on their behalf. He’d only smiled and said, "No one gets left behind, right?" 

They’d taken a moment just to be together, melting into a huge hug consisting of much more joy than pain, then they’d painstakingly trekked to one of Anubis’ ships and Daniel had flown them home. 

~*~

When they’d awakened in the infirmary it was to the sight of a comatose Daniel on a bed between them. Daniel had literally - and as always - given everything he had to save them, and Fraiser couldn’t begin to assure them it wasn’t fatally. 

They’d climbed out of their own beds well before Fraiser said they could just to be near Daniel: to touch him and talk to him and reassure him how very much they still needed him. God, how they needed him - nothing had been right without Daniel on SG1, in the SGC, or in their admittedly dysfunctional family. The spirit of their purpose had departed along with Daniel and it had showed. Not one new ally had been gained, and a series of bad choices had nearly blown it with a couple of old ones. 

Almost a week later, during Jack’s watch, Daniel had opened his eyes and it had been as if the long months of separation had never happened. Daniel had asked first about the team, then a lost book, then practically begged Jack for a cup of coffee, eyes alight with humor and the pleasure of coming home. 

Jack had learned a lot of hard lessons in his life, losing his friend had driven irrevocably home the need to speak his mind, and his heart, when he had the chance. He’d grabbed Daniel up in an enthusiastic hug, letting out a whoop loud enough to wake the others and bring Fraiser running. The doctor had let them laugh and hug and cry themselves out, had even joined in, then shooed them off to bed so she could check on Daniel’s condition. 

Ascension had been kind to Daniel, no scars, no allergies, no lasting glow effects. Totally human and still in need of glasses, but physically there were no major changes. A few other things had changed about the man though: the spark and enthusiasm that had seemed to wane in Daniel those last months before he died was back with a vengeance. Nothing was too small or apparently dull to capture his attention. Strangely, the weight of Daniel’s many losses also seemed to have eased. Over time Jack had pried a little information of Daniel about that - it seemed the ascended were plugged into more than just the astral plane. Another, very welcome, change was that now Daniel, the ‘I stand alone’ king, liked to touch - and be touched. Jack didn’t need an explanation for that one. Daniel had spent enough of his life isolated from the people he cared about, and endless months unable to touch anything at all, and they were only too happy to indulge him. 

Daniel had rejoined the team on missions within two months, time enough to once again convince the world Daniel Jackson was among the living. They’d found him a house outside the city, not coincidentally nearly dead center between Jack, Carter, and Hammond’s own homes. The city noise had just been too much for his recently descended sensitivities. 

They’d had a mega-party most of SGC had join in for, getting Daniel’s things out of storage and moving him in the same day, with housewarming and homecoming gifts in such volume Daniel was glowing with a power that had nothing at all to do with Oma. Jack had teasingly called it the Heavenly Barbecue, and Feretti had rightly predicted many years of "angel jokes" in Daniel’s future. 

Things had fallen back into synch for all of them. They’d strengthened their position in the cosmic political scene, wreaked enough havoc to deteriorate the stranglehold of the goa’uld , freed more of the jaffa than Teal’c had ever dreamed possible - and the Asgard had helped out considerably in freeing the jaffa from their dependence on the symbiotes. Little by little they had united the planets, Carter had taken over SG1 - and become the wife of Narim, their new ambassador to the Planetary Alliance. Earth - in large part due to Daniel’s efforts - had finally earned its place as the fifth race. Jack had taken over SGC when Hammond had retired, hated the desk work but loved the freedom to tell the bureaucrats just what needed sticking where. 

Standing here watching Daniel accept the Presidential Medal of Honor, face red and still in an expression Jack recognized as acute discomfort blended liberally with a ‘memo to self: kill Jack at earliest possible convenience’ gleam in his eye, Jack was never so glad that Daniel had come back to them. Looking down the line of spectators, human and alien alike, friends all, Jack knew they’d never have gotten this far without him. They all knew it. 

Earth was finally at peace. The Stargate no longer a secret. Displaced Tollans had taken refuge on Earth, finally convinced the "primitives" had as much to give as they had always assumed they’d take and gates were publicly accessible on every continent. The Nox were still doing things their way, but over time had conceded the very young could still teach them a thing or two. Kinsey had died after one too many schemes had backfired on him. Simmons had been killed by his pet goa’uld, leaving SG1 to clean up the mess, Harry Maybourne had redeemed himself in the eyes of the government on that one, now enjoying a slightly shady retirement scheme in the Bahamas. Cassie had followed in her mom’s footsteps and was fast becoming an expert in alien virology. Hammond, well, he looked real good up there bestowing that Medal of Honor on Daniel, but Jack still had trouble calling him Mr. President.

A happy ending for just about everyone…

Looking at Daniel’s face again, Jack wasn’t so sure if he could expect one, but it was worth the risk. Doctor Daniel Jackson - archaeologist extraordinaire, diplomat, historian for a host of lost or nearly lost worlds, cultural liaison to beat them all, damn fine man and friend was here and alive and finally, finally being recognized for the irreplaceable and dynamic force in the universe he was…that he had always been.

‘Some men really are born to greatness’, Jack mused again, ‘…and sometimes, sometimes they’re just plain great. And some…’ Jack thought as Daniel left the podium and headed in his direction. ‘Some are in a great deal of trouble…’

With a grin over his shoulder, General Jack O’Neill ducked behind Teal’c, Narim, and Carter, shamelessly cowering before the wrath of a publicly embarrassed Daniel Jackson. He didn’t care how it looked, they were all here, together, and happy. 

And that really was all that mattered.

*fin*

  


* * *

  


> Author's note: This is not a canon treatment of the ep. As promised no fic I write will ever exclude Daniel and his vital place in the Stargate SG1 lexicon. This is a response to my own challenge on SG1HC to write the perfect ending to the Stargate saga. Unapologetic sap, hopefully not descending into sop. If that isn’t your cup of tea, then please don’t read this.

* * *

>   
> © June 27, 2002 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp.  
> The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters  
> who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names,   
> titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and   
> solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.   
> 

* * *

  



End file.
